Detroit approves SHoP timeline for $700M mixed-use tower

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Detroit officials have approved New York-based SHoP Architects' construction timeline for what could become the city's tallest building yet, according to Dezeen.

The 1.2 million-square-foot, $700 million project, which also includes a nine-story, mixed-use podium, is scheduled to begin construction in December 2017 on the site of a former Detroit landmark, Hudson's department store.

The project is part of a recent development surge in the city, which has long battled the economic effects of a diminished automobile industry.

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Developer Bedrock, which is owned by billionaire Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans, scored permission from the Downtown Development Authority to build on the site in 2013, and Gilbert said he hopes the complex will be an even bigger economic force for the city than Hudson's was.

The project, which the Authority approved in February, relies on brownfield site incentives from the recently-enacted Michigan Thrive Initiative. Construction reportedly won't move forward until Gilbert has a commitment from the program.

Gilbert has also proposed a 23,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium — as well as a surrounding mixed-use development — on another site in the city's downtown, where Wayne County already has plans to build an adult corrections facility.

However, Gilbert offered them a deal. In exchange for being able to build his $1 billion complex there, he and his other development company, Rock Ventures, will construct a $420 million criminal justice center nearby, with the county required to contribute only the $300 million it had budgeted for the original facility. The county is considering Gilbert's proposal while its executive studies the plan, an examination that is projected to cost $500,000.

Gilbert isn’t the only one trying to jumpstart construction activity in Detroit, however. The city's downtown has also benefited from the development efforts of the Ilitch family, which founded Little Caesars Pizza. The family also owns the Detroit Red Wings NHL team, and they're currently underway with a new hockey arena and surrounding development. So far, the family's investment has topped $1 billion in an effort to overhaul five neighborhoods with housing, transportation, commercial and entertainment space.